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(This is the first post in a series of studies on Werner Jaeger's work on Aristotle's philosophical development. Follow these links to find the other parts: Post 2. Post 3, and Post 4.) Introduction to, and
difficulties with, Jaeger’s Method In his renowned work on Aristotle, Werner Jaeger, using the methods of form criticism and the evolutionary view of the
development of thought[1],
presents his theory concerning the development of Aristotle’s philosophical
thought (see part 2 of this study here). He introduces his project by explaining that his main purpose will be
to show that there is a process of development in Aristotle’s work. He seeks to
maintain this theory over against Aristotelian tradition before him, who, so he
claims, views Aristotle’s works as static, “The main reason why no attempt has
yet been made to describe Aristotle’s development is, briefly, the scholastic
notion of his philosophy as a static system of conceptions.”[2]
Throughout his study of A…